The weirdness, wonder and majesty of local TV advertising

If you're about my age and, like me, you grew up in the Greater Los Angeles area, you were probably intimately familiar with the commercials for car dealer “Cal” Worthington, with their catchy jingle and his dog Spot, which was a different dog each time.

Indeed, in the video above, his dog Spot is actually a goat.

“He said he would eat a bug to get you to buy a car,” wrote The Associated Press in a recent obituary for the car magnate, who died Saturday. “He promised that he would even stand upon his head until his ears were turning red if you would just, 'Go see Cal.' ”

Beyond being mere marketing, Worthington's commercials were part of the local pop culture landscape, as omnipresent in the youth of the markets where he had dealerships — he had dealerships from Alaska to Texas — as “Ghostbusters” or New Wave music or anything else. Kids sang his jingle on the school bus. And yeah, they changed the words to make them dirty, as kids do, but still … Worthington made his mark, and made it big.

There's something about local commercials, with their entwined familiar locations and endearing, low-budget hokeyness, that makes them far more beloved than your average piece of advertising. When I first met her, my Massachusetts-native wife would joyously erupt into the chant of “I can walk like a penguin” when confronted with penguins anywhere, and it took me a while to discover she was referencing a commercial for The New England Aquarium:

Also, when we were deciding where to buy a refrigerator, she reflexively quoted a Sclamos ad, imitating the voice she heard on the commercial for years. That's the sort of power local commercials have … even the awful ones — heck, especially the awful ones — have a way of worming their way into your heart.

Not being native to the area, I inquired of locals on Facebook as to their most beloved local and regional commercials. There was a veritable flood of responses.

A number of folks were quick to recommend car dealer Ernie Boch Sr., and his sledgehammer-accompanied promise that nobody smashes prices on used cars like him:

Spag's, of course, was a favorite, although most people agreed the only commercial seemingly available online at the moment is a little tame by comparison to ones that had founder Anthony A. Borgatti Jr. standing in the middle of Route 9.

Local musician Bill McCarthy claimed that he had written and recorded “Spag's second most famous jingle,” but didn't have a copy immediately available, and as of press time, has not illuminated what the store's first most-famous jingle was. One imagines we'll have a dozen informative comments soon.

There was a great deal of good will toward the over-the-top ads for Gallo video, which amused with a whole slew of wacky shenanigans:

Also popular were the commercials for Bernie & Phyl's Furniture, with its infectious jingle …

… as well as a number of fans of Bob's Discount Furniture's commercials, such as this bit of claymation:

When I mentioned in the office that someone had recommended a video for 1877 Kars 4 Kids, a copy editor sitting nearby began gleefully singing the theme song:

Many posters excitedly posted out-of-context catch phrases such as “Left on Spitbrooke, right on Daniel Webster,” “'Brown eggs are local eggs and local eggs are best,” and “When you run out / Run out to White Hen.” Even as a transplant, I know I've heard people reference at least two of these repeatedly, without ever having seen the commercials.

And unless you still think this is a recent phenomenon, one poster reminisced:

“I'm older than you folks. The one I remember was for a Boston carpet cleaner that asked: 'How many cookies did Andrew eat? Andrew ate 8000. How do you get your carpets clean? Call Andrew-8-8000.' Andrew being the exchange for, I believe, Jamaica Plain.”

Advertising is an art form, but local advertising, in all of its sometimes outrageous glory? That's in a class by itself. (Victor D. Infante)